Point Defiance Zoo ~ June 2013

We went to the zoo the day after Dennis' birthday.  June 9th....    We took the kids and Cal's girlfriend Alana with us.  Packed up a cooler, got Subway and hit the road :) 

We got there, got our tickets in ...  the kids immediately wanted to go to the gift shop so we let them go in there for a minute.  Kaedyn kept trying to steal a sucker.  Little stinker.  But we had to find where we could rent a "stroller" since Nathan wasn't going to walk all the way, Noah's legs hurt all the time, and we forgot our stroller.  

So you rent them in the same building that the Carousal is ... 

So rides on it were only a dollar, so when I rented the stroller I got them each a ticket too.  I ended up riding with Kaedyn because he was really scared.  To the point of trembling while we were riding.  The kid definitely has some anxiety issues.

Outside was the resident Peacock.

The Meerkats were so fun to watch.  They had some babies that were so adorable.  The first pic is an adult, the rest of them are the babies, and then the last is the Meerkat's inside looking out a window at the ones outside.

We loooooooooove Lemurs ...  The middle photo is a black Lemur.

First two pics are some turtles ... the last a couple of toads...

The kids got to go to Stingray Cove ...  Kaedyn didn't want to stick his hand in the water at all...  Nathan wasn't all that interested either, Daddy did and Alana did ... I believe Noah did too ...

Nathan having a Autistic moment ... and him with his mask he got, which obviously is really a belt....

Exploring the Aquarium ....

Photo op with the sharks mouth!!!

The younger ones infront of a mural ...

Checking out the Marine Discovery Center

Elephants .....

Some of the floral photography I did ...

Calahan and Alana (second pic has Nate and Kaed too) ... first pic they were infront of the Elephant habitat, the others were at the Tiger habitat ...

The Tigers ...... I wrote down their names, I will have to come back and put it in here when I find it.  These guys are only 9 months old....  the one in the middle row and the two lower ones by the waterfall are baby tiger Kali's brother, and the last picture is their half brother.

Some random pics ....

The Dub Dub Memorial :)

Seals....

Penguins

Sea Otters with the Walrus in the middle....

The Red Wolf area ....

The kids playing before we left, Nate's a hermit crab!!

Watching the carousal when I returned the stroller .....

The day wore Nathan out and made him sick, but over all it was a good day and the kids really had fun.  We'll be going back next month :)

They were doing some advertisements for a certain phone (don't even remember what one) ... and they were doing these pictures... well, they took two in the Shark Cove.... but they didn't turn out ... "Oh look at these amazing pictures in the dark" ....... looks like the sharks are going to eat us ...

 but I don't think they are very good at all ... you can't even see Alana ... :/

But there was another set up by the Tigers, so I made everyone do it again - LOL - grumble grumble complain complain .... but it's a good family pic....

Oh, RIGHT! I have kids!

I know I know .......... life isn't all about the kittens!!

I have KIDS TOO!!!

So what's been going on in the last couple of months?     Well...  let's see.....

Calahan and his girlfriend Alana went on their first date.  They were going to go to prom on June 1st, but one of them (I guess) had to be a Senior ... and since both of them are Juniors...  they didn't go.  So her parents, and us made it possible for them to go out  ....  so they went to a movie, Fast 6 ... and then I picked them up and we went to my Mom's place....  hung out there, grilled, ate, and took her home :)

Here are a couple of pictures of when I dropped them off ....

We (DB, Kaed and I) helped Nana and Papa re-paint their deck again.  We kept telling Kaed that he could walk on the deck but not the parts that we painted!!   First, he walked in it with one foot .... oops.... then he walked in it again, with both feet!  LOL.....   But he took off his shirt and helped to paint too.

Kaedyn made it through his 2nd year of Pre-School ...  (He attends Head Start & District Pre-School)

Beginning of the school year and end of the school year ...

Some of the artwork and stuff he came home with for his last day...

I asked him to draw me a self portrait ....   this is what he drew :)

Nate drew one too one day when we were at the doctors...

Nathan LOVES these Dyson hand dryers they have at the Children's Hospital in Seattle...  he could stand there all day long and just keep putting his hands in there.  Great sensory thing...

Nathan Graduated Kindergarten .....  this is him the first day of school and the last day ....

We were asked (since Nathan is a bit non-verbal) .... what he wanted to be when he grew up for this project at school.  I was like... I have no idea.  We've been so focused on working on his speech, it's just not something we've questioned.   So I thought - well he likes to play Doctor, so many that.  

Well when he got home from school, I asked him.  He said "ZOMBIE!" and proceeded to act like a Zombie.  I'm laughed and laughed.  Then when I said ...  "You know, in order to be a Zombie, you have to bed dead....." and he gave me his surprised look.  "You still want to be a Zombie?" ... he shakes his head no and then runs away ....  

Here is Nathan with his Graduation Certificate ....

Here are some pictures of when we went to the park a couple days after his last day of school....  Marnie was wearing her dress ... and in the picture of Daddy and Kaedyn, well, Kaedyn was eating his brains cuz he was a Zombie....  (yes, my kids are obsessed with Zombies) ...  Noah was also a couple days after his dental surgery ....

Earlier in June....  Kaedyn threw a full 2 liter bottle of Mt. Dew (Soda) in Nathan's direction ...  and it ended up hitting Nathan in the face.  He came to me, blood gushing out of his nose ...  it took awhile to get the bleeding under control, and my gut told me it was broke... even though it wasn't obvious like it was when Noah fell down the stairs and broke his.  So we put ice packs on it... but you could see the bruising on the side of his nose by his eyes and across the bridge of his nose. We didn't take him into the ER because when Noah broke his nose, it was OBVIOUSLY broken, and they said they didn't think it was (but than gave him discharge papers saying it was) ...  so I figured the ER would be pointless.  The following morning, we got him in with someone at the clinic... who sent him for X-Rays and referred him to the same ENT Noah saw for his broken nose.  Dr. R said that based on the x-rays and the way it looked, it didn't completely break, but was a hairline fracture.  It would heal up in 6 to 8 weeks.  No surgery for Nathan, yay!!   Noah had to have surgery to fix his...

Noah had to have surgery to remove all his baby teeth and fix a couple of cavities that he had.  See ... he has a tiny jaw as it is... I don't know if that's one of the features of his genetic disorder, or what... but his jaw is tiny.  He's only had 3 baby teeth fall out.  Normally between the ages of 6 and 12 you have 20 baby teeth fall out.  Well, his would just hang around and hang around and even though some would be loose, it would take FOREVER for them to come out.  So since he's 11 years old, and his adult teeth are coming in and coming in where they are not suppose to be....  he had the other 17 baby teeth pulled.

Since he had so many teeth pulled, and he only has 12 teeth left in his mouth .... for the moment, others are coming in but they aren't in yet...   he's on a lot of soft foods right now.

We also recently went to the zoo and I'll share that in a different post since you all know how much I looooooove to take pictures :)

Kittens are ONE WEEK OLD!

So the kittens are a whole week old today.   They can start opening their eyes now, and Rex's eyes are open very slightly at the corner...  they are regulating their own temperature more because they sleep in their own little areas and not so much huddled together anymore...  Their ears are starting to open.  Their sense of smell is developing now ...  So I know I haven't posted pictures since the 27th.  So I'll update that first...

June 29th - 4 days old

Rex

Boo ...  you can see she's starting to look more Tortoise Shell in the face...

Sulley

June 30th
I actually didn't take any pictures I guess ... not with my camera or my cell phone.  Oops!

July 1st -6 days old

Took this with my phone... I don't get the best pics with my phone.....   I called this one "Kitty Butts!" LOL

This cracked us up last night!!!  One on each side and one between her legs....  "I'M A PROFESSIONAL, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!"

What?  I do what I gotta do!

Today (July 2nd) - 1 week old!

Boo, still the new "runt" of the litter ...  is 6.6oz today :) (189grams)

Rex .... you can see his eyes are starting to open up a little...   he is a whopping 7.5oz (214grams)

Sulley was 7oz today ... (201grams) ...

And adorable picture of Sulley

Some cute Week Old pics of them together